PHUKET: Phuket City will flood again and again unless the national government finds funding to make the Phuket capital drainage more efficient, the Phuket City Mayor, Somjai Suwansupapana, said today.
No formal damage estimate has been made but the likely total will run to millions of baht, plus social consequences.
Mayor Somjai spoke out as more than 1000 Old Phuket Town businesses assessed flood damage and close to 600 families sought help with food and bedding.
Yesterday's unprecedented deluge poured 80mm onto Phuket City between 11pm and 1am and 177.2mm between midnight and 6am.
Most of the downpour submerged the historical tourist centre of Old Phuket Town, at the heart of Phuket City.
Ironically, an official at Bang Wad reservoir said the deluge had missed the dam and would barely boost Phuket's supplies for the long, dry tourism high season, when water rationing sometimes becomes essential.
Mayor Somjai said: ''The water was 70mm deep in parts of Old Phuket Town, and 2100 residents reported damage along Bangkok Road, Rassada Road, Thalang Road, Ranong Road, Dibuk Road and Yaowarat Road.
''I suggest the Phuket Governor heads a team to deal with this issue because Old Phuket Town is downhill from other municipalities and water in downpours rushes into the heart of Phuket City.
''Ten or 20 years ago, we didn't have this problem, but Phuket City has grown fast since those days.
''Looking at the weather, the seasons have changed and we now have more rain every year, sometimes in deluges like this one. That's why the matter has to be treated as a Phuket-wide issue.''
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has already promised compensation to those with genuine damage claims on Phuket.
But a spokesperson for the Meteorological Department on Phuket said today that no warnings of flash flooding had been issued, contrary to reports in the Bangkok media.
''We did forecast heavy rain but we did not warn of flash flooding because that's something we can't predict,'' the spokesperson said.
Mayor Somjai said five Phket schools were flooded and forced to close yesterday and so far 589 Phuket families had reported being flooded from their homes.
Phuket police yesterday attempted to divert traffic around the most heavily flooded area and sandbags were still in front of downtown Phuiket shops today as residents and businesses mopped up.
Supermarket giant Tesco Lotus, embroiled in a debate with Old Phuket Town shopkepers over a plan for a new supermarket on the edge of the newly-gentrified traditional Sino-Portuguese shopping centre, today gave 200 bags of cleaning equipment valued at 500 baht each to be distributed to registered flood-hit families from Phuket Province's media centre.
No formal damage estimate has been made but the likely total will run to millions of baht, plus social consequences.
Mayor Somjai spoke out as more than 1000 Old Phuket Town businesses assessed flood damage and close to 600 families sought help with food and bedding.
Yesterday's unprecedented deluge poured 80mm onto Phuket City between 11pm and 1am and 177.2mm between midnight and 6am.
Most of the downpour submerged the historical tourist centre of Old Phuket Town, at the heart of Phuket City.
Ironically, an official at Bang Wad reservoir said the deluge had missed the dam and would barely boost Phuket's supplies for the long, dry tourism high season, when water rationing sometimes becomes essential.
Mayor Somjai said: ''The water was 70mm deep in parts of Old Phuket Town, and 2100 residents reported damage along Bangkok Road, Rassada Road, Thalang Road, Ranong Road, Dibuk Road and Yaowarat Road.
''I suggest the Phuket Governor heads a team to deal with this issue because Old Phuket Town is downhill from other municipalities and water in downpours rushes into the heart of Phuket City.
''Ten or 20 years ago, we didn't have this problem, but Phuket City has grown fast since those days.
''Looking at the weather, the seasons have changed and we now have more rain every year, sometimes in deluges like this one. That's why the matter has to be treated as a Phuket-wide issue.''
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has already promised compensation to those with genuine damage claims on Phuket.
But a spokesperson for the Meteorological Department on Phuket said today that no warnings of flash flooding had been issued, contrary to reports in the Bangkok media.
''We did forecast heavy rain but we did not warn of flash flooding because that's something we can't predict,'' the spokesperson said.
Mayor Somjai said five Phket schools were flooded and forced to close yesterday and so far 589 Phuket families had reported being flooded from their homes.
Phuket police yesterday attempted to divert traffic around the most heavily flooded area and sandbags were still in front of downtown Phuiket shops today as residents and businesses mopped up.
Supermarket giant Tesco Lotus, embroiled in a debate with Old Phuket Town shopkepers over a plan for a new supermarket on the edge of the newly-gentrified traditional Sino-Portuguese shopping centre, today gave 200 bags of cleaning equipment valued at 500 baht each to be distributed to registered flood-hit families from Phuket Province's media centre.
Just another example of how little use there is for a local government in Phuket, at any given opportunity the "monkey" is passed to Bangkok, :"Phuket City will flood again and again unless the national government finds funding to make the Phuket capital drainage more efficient, the Phuket City Mayor, Somjai Suwansupapana, said today."
So does the Phuket City Mayor have a plan ready to go or .....?
Posted by Bjarne on August 23, 2012 14:09